Sooner or later you had to know that I would start talking about things that tick me off. Well, here’s the first installment. It bothers me that people seem to be in such a big hurry. No time to wait, no time to slow down, and certainly no time to stop. And as the holidays get closer, I am sure they will speed up even more. Oh joy!

Put these people behind the wheel of a 5000 pound mass of steel, rubber, glass, fiber glass, and whatever else vehicles are made of, and they can become extremely dangerous. They will run up behind you, as if doing so is going to make you go faster; they will zip in and out of traffic like there’s no tomorrow (and there might not be); or they will run through stop signs as if the word stop has somehow been redefined.

Actually, when people run up behind me to try and make me go faster, more times than not I will slow down on purpose; fly by me in traffic, and I will delight in pulling up beside them at the next traffic light; roll through a stop sign, and I will wave as I pass them on the side of the road with a police officer standing beside their car. Unfortunately those pleasures don’t happen frequently enough.

Here are some interesting bits of information that I have arbitrarily calculated. If I am going the speed limit at 40 mph, and am passed by a driver going 55 mph, at the end of a seven mile trip across town (assuming there are no other obstacles), the person who passed me will have arrived 3 minutes earlier than I. THREE MINUTES! Is that really worth the risk? Or say a person does not completely stop at stop signs, and goes through 10 signs as they are driving across town, at a rate of about 2 seconds saved per sign, he or she will arrive at the final destination 20 seconds earlier. TWENTY SECONDS!

And what is it with people who are too busy to put shopping carts in the space that says “Please Return Shopping Carts Here”? I have seen carts all over parking lots, some within 20 feet of the shopping cart space. That means some worker has to walk all over the parking lot to collect the carts that should be in one location. Are these people in that big of a hurry? Or are they just that inconsiderate of others? Or simply lazy? Maybe all three.

Maybe these people are just paranoid about someone getting there ahead of them (wherever “there” is). Maybe they don’t plan their time wisely, and are always running late. Or maybe they just don’t think the rules apply to them. Whatever the reason, they continually tick me off. I am reminded of a quote I heard long ago, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” I hope that is true for them.

2 Responses to What’s The Hurry?

I don’t think you’re alone on this one Troy. People drive this way for several reasons including thinking accidents happen only to other people; they can handle any problem that may develop from their speeding and/or wreckless driving; a general lack of care and consideration of others in their life and the consequences of their decision process.
The next time someone climbs your bumper to move you along at a faster pace during the day, don’t slow down but put your headlights on. Your taillights will also go on and will appear you’ve hit your breaks.
Earlier this year a fellow with wife and three kids, kayak tied on top and bikes behind flew past me in PA like I was parked. Twenty miles down the road I passed him while he was being visited by your friendly ticket-writer. Eventually I crossed into OH. It wasn’t long after when the same fellow past me again at his favorite pace. I passed him again while he was receiving his second ticket within an hour.
In 1975 a 35 year old man blew a redlight with his massive fire truck at 55mph and broadsided a
vehicle in the intersection. My parents died a horrible death.